Bill S76-2011

Enacts the "construction safety course accountability act"

Enacts the "construction safety course accountability act"; authorizes the department of labor to license any entity or organization in the state of New York which offers an Occupational Safety and Health Administration construction safety and health course; requires any person or entity which issues an Occupational Safety and Health Administration construction and safety health course card in New York state to submit a copy to the department of labor, with the cardholder's name and address and the date of issuance.

Actions

Memo

BILL NUMBER:S76

TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "construction safety course accountability act"

PURPOSE: To ensure the integrity of construction safety training programs mandated pursuant to state and local laws, by requiring that entities providing such courses register with the department of labor and that they report the issuance of safety certificates so that a current database of certificate holders can be maintained.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill names the act the "construction safety course accountability act." Section 2 amends section 220-h of the labor law by adding subsection 2 to require that any entity in New York state which offers a course to laborers, workers, and mechanics in construction safety and health, approved by the United States department of labor's occupational safety and health administration that is at least ten hours in duration, obtain a license from the department of labor; adds subsection 3 to require that any entity offering such a course submit a copy of the certificate or card issued to any individual indicating completion of such course to the department of labor so the department can maintain a current database of cardholders; and adds subsection 4 to give the commissioner the authority to promulgate any rules or regulations necessary to implement subdivisions 2 and 3 of this section.

Section 3 provides that the act shall take effect immediately.

JUSTIFICATION: Section 220-h of the labor law requires laborers, workers, and mechanics employed on certain construction projects to complete a course of instruction on safety and health approved by the United States department of labor's occupational safety and health administration that is at least ten hours in duration, commonly known.as the "OSHA 10" course. New York City has a similar regulation. Currently there is no centralized agency that tracks who has taken the OSHA 10 course, and no centralized agency that tracks which entities and organizations are certified to teach the course. Because of that, it is difficult for employers and safety enforcement agencies to establish the validity of cards purporting to indicate that an individual has completed an OSHA 10 course, and there have been significant instances of fraud in the administration of such courses. For example, newspapers discovered instances of classes being given in two hours rather than ten, and in a bar rather than in a classroom. This legislation would ensure that OSHA 10 courses are properly administered and would reduce instances of fraud in the issuance of OSHA 10 course completion cards.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2010: S.7543/A.10062-A

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.

Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
76
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
(PREFILED)
January 5, 2011
___________

Introduced by Sen. PERALTA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "construction
safety course accountability act"
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "construction safety course accountability act".
S 2. Section 220-h of the labor law, as added by chapter 282 of the
laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
S 220-h. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
construction safety and health course. 1. The advertised specifications
for every contract for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance
and/or repair of public work to which the state or a municipality is a
party, where the total cost of all work to be performed under the
contract is at least two hundred fifty thousand dollars, shall contain a
provision requiring that all laborers, workers, and mechanics employed
in the performance of the contract on the public work site, either by
the contractor, sub-contractor or other person doing or contracting to
do the whole or a part of the work contemplated by the contract, shall
be certified prior to performing any work on the project as having
successfully completed a course in construction safety and health
approved by the United States department of labor's occupational safety
and health administration that is at least ten hours in duration.
2. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL LICENSE ANY ENTITY OR ORGANIZATION IN THE
STATE OF NEW YORK WHICH OFFERS A COURSE TO LABORERS, WORKERS, AND
MECHANICS IN CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH APPROVED BY THE UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINIS-
TRATION THAT IS AT LEAST TEN HOURS IN DURATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO COURSES GIVEN IN ORDER THAT SUCH LABORERS, WORKERS AND

EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01403-01-1

S. 76 2

MECHANICS MAY BE ELIGIBLE TO WORK ON CERTAIN PROJECTS PURSUANT TO SUBDI-
VISION ONE OF THIS SECTION OR PURSUANT TO ANY LOCAL RULE, REGULATION OR
ORDINANCE.
3. ANY PERSON, ENTITY OR ORGANIZATION WHICH ISSUES AN OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY HEALTH COURSE
CARD IN NEW YORK STATE SHALL SUBMIT A COPY TO THE DEPARTMENT, WITH THE
CARDHOLDER'S NAME AND ADDRESS AND THE DATE OF ISSUANCE.
4. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROMULGATE ANY RULES OR REGULATIONS NECES-
SARY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUBDIVISIONS TWO AND THREE OF THIS
SECTION.
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation comments facilitate discussion of New York State legislation. All comments are subject to moderation.
Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity or hate speech;
or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Comment moderation
is generally performed Monday through Friday.